Industrial Training Fund Boss Advocates Skills Acquisition As A Way Of Stemming Migration By Youths

Director-General/Chief Executive of the Industrial Training Fund, Sir Joseph N. Ari has advocated the acquisition of relevant skills as one of the best ways to stop Nigerian youths from mass casualties on the high seas, enslavement and other harrowing misfortunes through migration to Europe.
The ITF boss, who spoke when he received some stakeholders of the Fund today, Tuesday, said that making the youth to acquire relevant skills would also address the Federal Government’s efforts at creating jobs, in addition to serving as a solution to waves of migration by the youths.
He said that in moves to introduce the youths to skill acquisition and make them to fill available vacancies in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs, the ITF has embarked on a number of initiatives and expanded existing programmes to ensure that more Nigerians are empowered to also promote entrepreneurship.
Ari listed some of the programmes to include the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), Passion to Profession, Training on Wheels Using Mobile Training Units, the Women Skills Empowerment Programme (WOSEP), the Technical Skills Development Project (TSDP) as well as the Vulnerable and Indigent Youth Empowerment Programme (VIYEP) and several others.
The ITF boss said that the NISDP had trained over 100,000 Nigerians since it commenced, adding that under the ongoing phase in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the ITF is training 11,100 trainees with skills in Welding and Fabrication, Tailoring and Garment Making, and Plumbing and Pipe Fitting.
The Director General said that in the last one year alone, over 70,000 Nigerians benefited from these skills acquisition programmes, and that all the beneficiaries were given starter packs to start their businesses.
He said that about 90 percent of the beneficiaries are either currently successful entrepreneurs or earning livelihoods as paid employees according to the monitoring and evaluation of graduates conducted by the ITF.
Ari noted that some of the programmes were carried out in collaboration with several Organisations and Agencies both Private and Public in order to check unemployment and promote entrepreneurship.
He said that State governments could collaborate with the ITF towards the establishment of Industrial Skill Training Centres (ISTCs), which will be managed by the ITF on their behalf.[myad]